Award-winning architect to rejuvenate ageing Fairfield Halls (From Croydon Guardian)

Award-winning architect to rejuvenate Croydon's ageing Fairfield Halls

7:20am Tuesday 19th January 2010 in News By Mike Didymus

Fairfield Halls in Croydon

Croydon’s ageing Fairfield Halls has been handed a major boost to its future, with Croydon Council hiring a team of award-winning architects to rejuvenate the venue.

Fears have long been raised over the Fairfield being sacrificed to make way for an arena style complex in the town, but the downfall of the planned Croydon Gateway development has seen attention shift back to saving the 48-year-old arts centre.

Keith Williams Architects, the firm behind redevelopments of Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre and the Unicorn Theatre in London, beat off competition from seven other bidders to win the Croydon Cultural Venue Options Study contract.

The designs are due to be completed in the spring, with the new Fairfield Halls taking centre stage as part of a redeveloped College Green.

Keith Williams, design director at the firm, said: “We’re excited by it. It’s a very prized commission and critical to the whole arts and cultural life of the town, and of the region.

“It’s a complex problem and I think a key part of the study will be to make sure that we consult appropriately.

“It’s not a brand we’re building from scratch, it has history and has elements of significant architecture about it.

“The fundamental point is that the Fairfield will remain as a major arts venue.”

The architects will spend the next few weeks redesigning the interior and exterior of the building, while retaining the existing structure of the halls.

They will also be charged to explore ways in which suggested improvement to the Fairfield could be funded.

Fairfield Halls chief executive Derek Barr said: ”Successive generations of local people have enjoyed some great nights out at Fairfield, with world-class programmes of theatre, music and dance.

“However, while the concert hall is superb for orchestral concerts, we have long realised that the venue needs investment to maintain its appeal to the kind of quality acts we want to continue attracting to Croydon.

“It's unrealistic for Fairfield to compete with high capacity arenas but it should still be in the top league for events that will regularly sell out in one of the biggest catchment areas in the south east.

“There's no doubt Fairfield will maintain its success at the very heart of Croydon’s rich cultural and community life. With the right kind of investment and development its future as a first class regional location can be assured.”

Steve Hollands, Croydon’s cabinet member for culture and sport stated: “We need to create a venue suitable for artists and audiences in the 21st century which will contribute to the cultural life of the borough.

“We want to restore the reputation of Fairfield Halls as one of the country’s leading performing arts venues.”

Fairfield Facts:

Fairfield Halls was built in the same architectural style as the Royal Festival Hall, and is one of the few remaining examples of a major early post war concert hall and arts centre left in the country.

The inaugural concert took place in November 1962, and over the decades to a huge number of auspicious, world-class acts including The Beatles, Morrissey and Coolio.

Home to the London Mozart Players, it is renowned for its excellent acoustic qualities - and is thought to be in the top three venues in the country for classical performances.

It houses a 1700 seat concert hall, the 750 seat Ashcroft Theatre, community performance and meeting spaces and an art gallery.